Culture. Travel. Writing. My world in words and pictures

More Maverick doings…

I’ve reviewed several Maverick Early Readers before, so it’s always interesting to see the new titles and get a feel for how the series is developing. These new books certainly deliver. One of the things I love about them is that they would be equally at home in the home or in a classroom – so as my day job takes me in and out of many classrooms, I’m going to consider them in that context.

There is a lot of discussion in education currently, about the need for reading books that are “decodable”; that is, closely matched to the phonics knowledge a child has mastered. The recently revised draft Ofsted Inspection Framework makes much of this viewpoint, so many schools I expect, will be looking closely at their reading book shelves and making big decisions about their content. Personally, I think all the Maverick books would be a good addition to any classroom collection.

First up then: Mole in Goal by Amanda Brandon and Giusi Capizzi (Orange Book Band/Phase 5 Letters and Sounds). This is a great book in which disability is sensitively explored. Mole has very poor eyesight and naturally short legs which prevent him being able to play his favourite game, football, until his goal keeping skills are discovered. What I particularly liked is the opportunity this affords for children to explore Blind Football and see how a visual impairment is not something that needs to prevent engagement in games and sports at very high levels. When his team mates create a sound making football, Mole is able to save the game and the day. The illustrations work well with the text and I particularly liked the way Mole’s point of view is demonstrated, so children can see how he experiences the world.

The next three colour bands; turquoise, purple and gold, are all aimed at readers who have developed the required phonics skills and are now building their reading fluency. I was particularly happy to see “The Oojamaflip” by Lou Treleaven and Julia Patton (Turquoise Band) in the set I received. This story, in its very early submission stage was once shared with permission in a SCBWI workshop I attended and greatly influenced my move into sometimes writing in rhyme! In this funny story, the wonderously red haired and resourceful Professor McQuark invents her Oojamaflip, which does exactly what it says! I was interested to see that this has been rewritten in prose and it did make me wonder if there is a place for rhyming texts within this series. However, I do think that having alternative versions of stories, outside of the traditional tale cannon is an equally useful addition to classroom resources. Given that I sometimes have to hear Year 2 children reading as part of my day job, I think this one may make its way into my work bag!

“Whishker” by Heather Pindar and Sarah Jennings takes us up to Purple band, which brings in more opportunities for wider inference and discussions about the characters and their motivation. This also extends to the illustrations. The main character’s wish builds gradually into a massive problem, which presents the reader with a moral dilemma; Mirabel learns her lesson, but does somehow get her wish! However the nice twist at the end also brings opportunities for considering what happens next. I also felt the language and structure of the text gave it a sightly more episodic feel – perfect for building up the reading stamina as children move into early chapter books.

So finally to “Scary Scott” by Katie Dale and Irene Montano (Gold Band). I loved this story for it’s humour and pace. The story is told over 5 chapters and I also liked how the illustrations interplay with the story and add layers of meaning, so the reader has to use their inference and deduction skills to really engage with the text. The tension builds gradually and there are some great Uh-Oh! moments and cliffhangers along the way. There is also another moral dilemma to discuss – how to do the right thing, even if you may lose out is an important consideration for most 6 and 7 year olds!

So once again, all I can say is Maverick have continued to bring children, parents and teachers some great stories which we can all enjoy in equal measure!

Thanks for your very good in depth reviews for our Maverick Early Readers. Steve here MD at Maverick. Its a huge team effort getting these books to be published. We are very fortunate to have brilliant support from some very talented writers, an exceptional educational consultant to work with, illustrators who put their heart and souls into their work and a dedicated young team of editors here in Horsham. To read proper reviews of our books means a huge amount to us. Thank you x

You are very welcome! As a picture book writer myself, I appreciate the values that sit behind these books as well as the educational structure that helps young and emerging readers. They bridge the gap perfectly in my opinion! I hope one day one of my stories might be one of them!!